Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Coping With Nonmarital Breakups Chapter Outline Coursework

Coping With Nonmarital Breakups Chapter Outline - Coursework Example This means that studying nonmarital breakups is confirming whether there ever was a nonmarital relationship - a two sided one- in the first place! C. The value of accounts The person's oral or written narratives explaining their experiences or actions describing characters and events and inferring the meaning and motives in the course of retelling and reviewing the love stories. V. Personal-good reasons to study breakups Knowing about relationships can improve your specific experiences. For instance, breakups do have lessons and influence future expectations and plans to choose to act differently next time. VI. The breakup process This confirms the various steps and process that people undergo when relationships lead to breakups. A. Intimacy: A cost-benefit analysis Social creatures are faced with two risks, rejection and betrayal, when pursuing intimacy. Rejection can occur when the hope-for relationship never develops, cut short, or fails when the other expresses dissatisfaction. Betrayal is insidious, a threat that emerges only if intimacy succeeds-for a time. The other, having the advantage of special information, having gained our trust, turns around and turns on us, revealing our vulnerabilities, badmouthing us, teasing us. Why then do we willingly hand that very risky unknown our phone number Why do we have to take heart breaker one more time 1. The need to belong As social creature, we need each other, our presence, and the possibility of closeness. Relationships confer unique benefits on individuals. B. Phases and stages of breakup: Weiss's study of marital separation 1. Obsessive review This involves mental search for explanations, driven to some extents, "If only" and regrets. For the leaver and the leave, the end... Social creatures are faced with two risks, rejection and betrayal, when pursuing intimacy. Rejection can occur when the hope-for relationship never develops, cut short, or fails when the other expresses dissatisfaction. Betrayal is insidious, a threat that emerges only if intimacy succeeds-for a time. The other, having the advantage of special information, having gained our trust, turns around and turns on us, revealing our vulnerabilities, badmouthing us, teasing us. Why then do we willingly hand that very risky unknown our phone number Why do we have to take heart breaker one more time This involves mental search for explanations, driven to some extents, "If only" and regrets. For the leaver and the leave, the end of a relationship is traumatic and triggers a self protective review of reasons and signs which could prevent future losses. There are two types of loneliness, emotional loneliness and social loneliness. The emotional loneliness refers to the isolation, focused on missing one's intimate partner and losing the unique comforts of that relationship. Social loneliness is disorientation and excommunication one feels when one has lost one's place and marital status. Aft

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Operations Of Rolls Royce Motor Cars

Operations Of Rolls Royce Motor Cars The main purpose of this report was to apply information systems and operations to the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited. This report defines the companys operation, offers an input-transformation-output diagram of the operations system. Then it discusses the supply network and the flows in terms of physical and informational. And it identifies the major categories of ICT, E-business and information systems used and the influences on the operations. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a system to gain resources from the environment to produce high-quality of motor cars to customers. For the sake of describing the primary, secondary, and tertiary divisions of the operation system, the systems method is applied to show every sub-system of the entire system. 1.0 Introduction In business world, the focus is on how people do business rather than on what people make, so companies pay more attention on operations where most organizations incur the majority of the costs. Nowadays, consumers require higher quality, quicker deliveries and lower costs, operations is adding cross-functional decision making and better deal with information system (Anupindi et al., 2005). In essence, operations management means the generation of consumer value via the efficiently and effectively managing the operation processes (Voss, Tsikriktsis Frohlich, 2002). With added internationalization and competition and in markets, operations management are reducing product and service life cycles, shifting emphasis on consumer concerns, competing for time (Hayes, 2002). As a British manufacturer of luxury automobiles on the base of the Good wood Plant, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is the present producer of Rolls-Royce branded automobiles. Having been a motoring icon for more than 10 0 years, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited aims at continuing to set the pace into the next century. The main purpose of this report is to apply information systems and operations to the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited. This report will adopt a narrow view of operations, define the companys operation. And offer an annotated input-transformation-output diagram of the operations system presenting the primary, secondary and tertiary inputs and outputs. Following this, it will discuss the supply network of which it is part, and describe the components that comprise this supply network and the flows in terms of physical and informational between the components. Finally, it will identify the major categories of ICT, E-business and information systems used and look at the influences on the operations and supply network in Rolls-Royce Ltd. 2.0 Operations system 2.1 Operations in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Operations management means the business function conscientious about planning, organizing, and controlling the resources required to generate an organizations services and products (Slack, Chambers Johnson, 2004). Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a system to gain resources from its environment including materials and staff, to produce high-quality of motor cars to customers all around the world. The operation system is highly standardized, low contact skills, high staff utilization, centralization and low unit costs. The operations function includes all actions associated with generating and delivering motor cars. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is typical goods producing operations. The percent of the product that is good, namely, motor cars. All micro and macro and operations in Rolls-Royce Ltd are based on its customers and suppliers. The needed components of the whole system are to fulfill the companys mission. The company aims to produces goods with excellent durability and quality, with well function, style, and design. Rolls-Royce Ltd is emphasized on the relations of its suppliers and its consumers for the sake of operating effectively and offering high-quality to the motor cars. 2.2 A holistic view of Rolls-Royce Ltd system The diagram below describes the components through which the entire system of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited contains. The interior process through which the company participates separately could be seen in figure 1. The primary division is conscientious about generating and delivering raw materials for the company, where the secondary division applies the raw materials for the sake of manufacturing or improving the goods of the Rolls-Royce Ltd. With regard to the tertiary division, the services are offered through the organization for the sake of satisfying the requirements of its consumers such as distributing and retailing of the motor cars. For the sake of describing the primary, secondary, and tertiary divisions of the operation system, the systems method is applied to show every sub-system of the entire system. 2.3 Input-transformation-output diagram The input-transformation-output connects the environment to the management control system (Bertrand Fransoo, 2002). For the sake of designing good management control systems, it is necessary to comprehend where in the environment to look the appropriate inputs, the form of transformation perform, and what output to generate (Johnston, 2005). Comprehending the input-transformation-output process assists Rolls-Royce Ltd to determine the certain design parameters of management control system. In accordance with what is shown about every division, the input-transformation-output diagram is produced for the sake of describing the primary, secondary, and tertiary inputs and outputs (figure 2). The input-transformation-output diagram shows what kind of operations management Rolls-Royce Ltd proceeds for the sake of gaining its goals. The company gains inputs from its environment, transforms them into outputs, and delivers the outputs back into the environment. Rolls-Royce Ltd makes a limited product line of motor cars using input-transformation-output process. The company applies lots of manufacturing process having various categories of control systems than applying lean manufacturing ways. The process is visualized for the motor cars to be accomplished and is available to consumers. The input-transformation-output diagram describes what inputs are needed in the whole operation system for the sake of obtaining the prescriptive outputs. The outputs are motor cars, services, and even outcomes of product operations management. 2.3.1 The primary division The primary division of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is the suppliers, as the organization does not generate the raw materials on its own. The company needs the raw materials from the manufacturers and suppliers to stick to several certain ways and standards for the sake of cooperate with them. The organization generates some measures to estimate the environmental influence of the cars, and assists its suppliers through comprehending the environmental influence of the goods they offer. Rolls-Royce Ltd applies reusing and reusable sources for the sake of generating more motor cars while older cars get the terminal of the lifecycle. The company proposes to the suppliers to recycle the wasteful materials to produce other goods, so as to prevent from the waste which is generated in the manufacturing process. The agents of Rolls-Royce Ltd are conscientious about buying materials, negotiating the prices to the suppliers, test the quality of goods offered and locating orders. The inputs i nclude sheet steel, engine parts, information on raw materials, manufacturing guidelines, procedures, and personnel polices. 2.3.2 Secondary division The secondary part is related to the manufacturing. At the transformation process phase, the materials from the suppliers are applied so as to produce the motor cars. The manufacturers are needed to apply strict standards for the sake of generating high quality cars. Rolls-Royce Ltd forms some relationships so as to obtain support to the actions. One of the companys objectives is to be friendly with the environment, and the company offers high quality cars as it is conscientious about the environment about and people. The transformation process needs equipment, tools, fabrication and assembly of cars, and employees follow instructions. 2.3.3 Tertiary division The tertiary division is responsible for satisfying the consumers requirements. Rolls-Royce Ltd has made available motor cars online to some countries. Rolls-Royce Ltd tries its best to reduce cost in the actions in the operations so as to reach the company goal. The company finds that it is difficult for the consumers to make decisions on empty stomach, so it has offered store restaurants. Although the company does the majority of the operations to the cars to get to the consumers, the consumers can choose, collect, and assembly the cars to reduce the total cost. As consumers choose and buy the motor cars on their own, the company has tried its best to strengthen the performance and aesthetic of the cars. The output in most of the company operations is a mixture of products and services, mainly in high-quality motor cars. 3.0 Supply network 3.1 Supply network of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Form a wider viewpoint of the operations system, it means the design, operation and development of the interior and exterior systems and resources across the entire company and the supply network generating and delivering the companys services and goods and the value required through consumers (Waller, 2003). The supply network in the company consists of the common statement of businesses where a variety of materials are transformed and moved between different value-added points to maximize the value added for consumers. Because the components forming the supply network have been identified above, the supply network of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited emphasizes on the upstream and downstream of the supply network (figure 2). 3.1.1 Upstream of the supply network The upstream of the supply network in Rolls-Royce Ltd starts while a consumer subscribes online, by phone or in person. The consumers subscription goes to the closest distribution centre and the car of the subscription is collected and distributed immediately to the consumer. Through the comparison between the downstream and upstream, it is differentiated that the retailer that is portion of the supply network does not play any role from the categories of transactions. 3.1.2 Downstream of the supply network One of the agents obligations is to order forms, so while an agent orders a form to the suppliers they setout the materials needed in the company, and they are transported to the secondary division. From the distribution centers, the motor cars are transferred to the retailers in accordance with the place of the store in country, therefore the consumers are able to visit the nearest store to purchase goods. 3.2 Physical and informational flows Relationships and information flows include personal relations across the company and lots of firms in the supply network, relationships between companies such as structures and systems required, and the information flows in terms of informal and formal essential to the different relationships to appropriately function (Roth Menor, 2003). 3.2.1 Physical flows Physical flows move when the informational flows deal with controlling and management of the operation process in Rolls-Royce Ltd. The informational flows in the physical processing could be developed online. Via a determined delivery deadline, the time for physical flows is predetermined in the company. The application of information systems helps to develop planning of the physical flows and the informational flow is important for the company to keep competitive. 3.2.2 Informational flows Information flow (formal and informal) is transmission of information from one place to another in Rolls-Royce Ltd. The company tries its best to manage information flows to improve value chain performance. Figure 4 shows the information flows in supply network of Rolls-Royce Ltd. 4.0 ICT, E-business and information systems 4.1 ICT ICT plays an important role in processing of data into information, in the interaction between sub-systems of a system and between systems in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited. Information communications technologies (ICT) includes E-mail, Web-based ordering, EDI of invoices and payment, and Web-based order tracking. In managing business processes of Rolls-Royce Ltd, ICT acts as sensor, feedback, comparator and actuator. ICT is in favor of determining forecasts to expect environmental disturbances and the trade-offs in buffers to accommodate environmental disturbances in the company. ICT is in favor of all facets of management such as decisions, functions, and levels. At every level, ICT processes data into information for business staff at the level, and ICT transmits the information as data for the following level up in the firm. The perception of boundary has results for the functions included in a specific information system. Having shown role of ICT in fundamental control loop functions, it is also in support of the goal setting process in Rolls-Royce Ltd. 4.2 E-business As a trend in operations and supply chain management, E-business develops pace, quality and cost of commerce communication. E-business covers all mediated information interchanges between a company and its exterior stakeholders (Chase, Jacobs Aquilano, 2006). Rolls-Royce Ltd uses operations information systems in day-to-day actions like transaction processing, process control, and communications. Rolls-Royce Ltd benefits a lot from the E-business. The customers of the Rolls-Royce Ltd can gain information about cars they needed by touching a button. The company can provide better availability of service to permit consumers to shop online, better timeliness of service to provide 24-hour service for purchasing products, and reduced cost in information processing. Through E-business, the operating costs of operations are less expensive, cheaper than brick-and-mortar, and initial cost of operations is cheaper. The company offers better access to consumer markets going everywhere in the world, and improves scheduling as the online capability permits the company more precise and seasonable in scheduling production activities. The firm is more easily study the quality of materials and components in the operation process. In addition, Rolls-Royce Ltd is better buying prices from suppliers, as the company obtains more pricing information and outcomes in lowering costs. Rolls-Royce Ltd enhances car development, as the capability online a ssists to decrease the time-to-market and the cost for new cars. 4.3 Information systems Information systems is applied to support the functional fields of business, is a group of relevant components working jointly to implement input, processing, output, and control activities for the sake of shifting data into information products applied to support operations (Rust Chase, 1999). The application of these systems is much cheaper compared with other systems. This system consists of process control systems, office automation systems, and transaction processing systems, which are major information system in the company. Management information systems are applied to offer feedback on the company actions and sustaining decision making. The system contains information reporting systems, executive information systems, and decision support systems in Rolls-Royce Ltd. Rolls-Royce Ltd can immensely enhance the performance through applying these information systems, and the information interchange between the firm and the suppliers is much faster. These information system influences the value chain in Rolls-Royce Ltd, such as identifying the methods IS may generate competitive advantage, creating a plan for taking advantage of IS, determining the role, and assessing the information intensity of the value chain. In addition, the company makes full use of interprise resource planning (ERP) systems with comprehensive functions for all main business operations across Rolls-Royce Ltd like production, finance, sales, and human resource management. Whats more, Rolls-Royce Ltd takes advantage of computer-based information system for the sake of generating management information, which is high-speed, reliable, accurate and programmable. 5.0 Conclusion In conclusion, Rolls-Royce Ltd can generate competitive advantage through information systems and operations. The input-transformation-output diagram is produced for the sake of describing the primary, secondary, and tertiary inputs and outputs. The supply network of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited emphasizes on the upstream and downstream of the supply network, and information flows in terms of informal and formal essential to the different relationships to appropriately function. ICT plays an important role in processing of data into information, in the interaction between sub-systems of a system and between systems in the company, and Rolls-Royce Ltd benefits a lot from the E-business and information systems. 6.0 Appendices Figure 1 Operations system in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Figure 2 Input-transformation-output diagram of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Figure 3 Supply network Figure 4 Information flows in supply network

Friday, October 25, 2019

An analysis of Schools of Psychotherapy as they relate to Anger Managem

An analysis of Schools of Psychotherapy as they relate to Anger Management Anger is a basic human emotion that transcends cultural boundaries. However, despite its universality, an exact definition agreed upon by all people is lacking (Norcross & Kobayashi, 1999). Physiologically, brain centers in the amygdala are connected to anger processing. Because the information processing that takes place in this brain structure is primitive, anger can be triggered inappropriately and without the individual's knowledge of the cause. In psychodynamic terms, past events and experiences suppressed in the unconscious can be the source of generated anger. In cognitive-behavioral terms, anger is described as an interaction of behavior, cognition, and physiological arousal (Ambrose & Mayne, 1999). According to Deffenbacher (1999), anger may be aroused by specific external events, a mix of these external events with the anger-related memories they elicit, and internal stimuli such as emotions or thoughts. It results when "events are judged to involve a trespass upon the pers onal domain, an insult to or an assault upon ego identity, a violation of values and expectations, and/or unwarranted interference with goal-directed behavior" (p.297). Two main ways to treat anger involve helping patients to prevent anger activation or helping them to regulate anger manifestation. The former is generally a longer and more difficult approach due to the fact that early emotional behavior patterns are hard to change or eliminate. Therefore, the moderation of anger may prove to be a more effective route of therapy (Ambrose & Mayne, 1999). Many different schools of psychotherapy have addressed the problem of anger. Because of the lack of a universally identic... ...al Psychology, 55(3), 275-282. Messer, S.B. (2001). What Makes Brief Psychodynamic Therapy Time Efficient. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 5-22. McGinn, L.K., & Sanderson, W.C. (2001). What Allows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be Brief: Overview, Efficacy, and Crucial Factors Facilitating Brief Treatment. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 23-37. Paivio, S.C. (1999). Experiential Conceptualization and Treatment of Anger. Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 311-324. Phares, E.J., & Trull, T.J. (2001). Clinical Psychology. California: Wadsworth. Van Deurzen, E. (2000). Humanistic-existential approaches. In C.Feltham & I. Horton (Eds.), Handbook of Counselling and Psychotherapy (pp.331-336). London: SAGE Publications.Ambrose, T.K., & Mayne, T.J. (1999). Research Review on Anger in Psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 353-363.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Angels Demons Chapter 49-50

49 Langdon and Vittoria stood alone now outside the double doors that led to the inner sanctum of the Secret Archives. The decor in the colonnade was an incongruous mix of wall-to-wall carpets over marble floors and wireless security cameras gazing down from beside carved cherubs in the ceiling. Langdon dubbed it Sterile Renaissance. Beside the arched ingress hung a small bronze plaque. ARCHIVIO VATICANO Curatore: Padre Jaqui Tomaso Father Jaqui Tomaso. Langdon recognized the curator's name from the rejection letters at home in his desk. Dear Mr. Langdon, It is with regret that I am writing to deny†¦ Regret. Bullshit. Since Jaqui Tomaso's reign had begun, Langdon had never met a single non-Catholic American scholar who had been given access to the Secret Vatican Archives. Il gaurdiano, historians called him. Jaqui Tomaso was the toughest librarian on earth. As Langdon pushed the doors open and stepped through the vaulted portal into the inner sanctum, he half expected to see Father Jaqui in full military fatigues and helmet standing guard with a bazooka. The space, however, was deserted. Silence. Soft lighting. Archivio Vaticano. One of his life dreams. As Langdon's eyes took in the sacred chamber, his first reaction was one of embarrassment. He realized what a callow romantic he was. The images he had held for so many years of this room could not have been more inaccurate. He had imagined dusty bookshelves piled high with tattered volumes, priests cataloging by the light of candles and stained-glass windows, monks poring over scrolls†¦ Not even close. At first glance the room appeared to be a darkened airline hangar in which someone had built a dozen free-standing racquetball courts. Langdon knew of course what the glass-walled enclosures were. He was not surprised to see them; humidity and heat eroded ancient vellums and parchments, and proper preservation required hermitic vaults like these – airtight cubicles that kept out humidity and natural acids in the air. Langdon had been inside hermetic vaults many times, but it was always an unsettling experience†¦ something about entering an airtight container where the oxygen was regulated by a reference librarian. The vaults were dark, ghostly even, faintly outlined by tiny dome lights at the end of each stack. In the blackness of each cell, Langdon sensed the phantom giants, row upon row of towering stacks, laden with history. This was one hell of a collection. Vittoria also seemed dazzled. She stood beside him staring mutely at the giant transparent cubes. Time was short, and Langdon wasted none of it scanning the dimly lit room for a book catalog – a bound encyclopedia that cataloged the library's collection. All he saw was the glow of a handful of computer terminals dotting the room. â€Å"Looks like they've got a Biblion. Their index is computerized.† Vittoria looked hopeful. â€Å"That should speed things up.† Langdon wished he shared her enthusiasm, but he sensed this was bad news. He walked to a terminal and began typing. His fears were instantly confirmed. â€Å"The old-fashioned method would have been better.† â€Å"Why?† He stepped back from the monitor. â€Å"Because real books don't have password protection. I don't suppose physicists are natural born hackers?† Vittoria shook her head. â€Å"I can open oysters, that's about it.† Langdon took a deep breath and turned to face the eerie collection of diaphanous vaults. He walked to the nearest one and squinted into the dim interior. Inside the glass were amorphous shapes Langdon recognized as the usual bookshelves, parchment bins, and examination tables. He looked up at the indicator tabs glowing at the end of each stack. As in all libraries, the tabs indicated the contents of that row. He read the headings as he moved down the transparent barrier. Pietro Il Erimito†¦ Le Crociate†¦ Urbano II†¦ Levant†¦ â€Å"They're labeled,† he said, still walking. â€Å"But it's not alpha-author.† He wasn't surprised. Ancient archives were almost never cataloged alphabetically because so many of the authors were unknown. Titles didn't work either because many historical documents were untitled letters or parchment fragments. Most cataloging was done chronologically. Disconcertingly, however, this arrangement did not appear to be chronological. Langdon felt precious time already slipping away. â€Å"Looks like the Vatican has its own system.† â€Å"What a surprise.† He examined the labels again. The documents spanned centuries, but all the keywords, he realized, were interrelated. â€Å"I think it's a thematic classification.† â€Å"Thematic?† Vittoria said, sounding like a disapproving scientist. â€Å"Sounds inefficient.† Actually†¦ Langdon thought, considering it more closely. This may be the shrewdest cataloging I've ever seen. He had always urged his students to understand the overall tones and motifs of an artistic period rather than getting lost in the minutia of dates and specific works. The Vatican Archives, it seemed, were cataloged on a similar philosophy. Broad strokes†¦ â€Å"Everything in this vault,† Langdon said, feeling more confident now, â€Å"centuries of material, has to do with the Crusades. That's this vault's theme.† It was all here, he realized. Historical accounts, letters, artwork, socio-political data, modern analyses. All in one place†¦ encouraging a deeper understanding of a topic. Brilliant. Vittoria frowned. â€Å"But data can relate to multiple themes simultaneously.† â€Å"Which is why they cross-reference with proxy markers.† Langdon pointed through the glass to the colorful plastic tabs inserted among the documents. â€Å"Those indicate secondary documents located elsewhere with their primary themes.† â€Å"Sure,† she said, apparently letting it go. She put her hands on her hips and surveyed the enormous space. Then she looked at Langdon. â€Å"So, Professor, what's the name of this Galileo thing we're looking for?† Langdon couldn't help but smile. He still couldn't fathom that he was standing in this room. It's in here, he thought. Somewhere in the dark, it's waiting. â€Å"Follow me,† Langdon said. He started briskly down the first aisle, examining the indicator tabs of each vault. â€Å"Remember how I told you about the Path of Illumination? How the Illuminati recruited new members using an elaborate test?† â€Å"The treasure hunt,† Vittoria said, following closely. â€Å"The challenge the Illuminati had was that after they placed the markers, they needed some way to tell the scientific community the path existed.† â€Å"Logical,† Vittoria said. â€Å"Otherwise nobody would know to look for it.† â€Å"Yes, and even if they knew the path existed, scientists would have no way of knowing where the path began. Rome is huge.† â€Å"Okay.† Langdon proceeded down the next aisle, scanning the tabs as he talked. â€Å"About fifteen years ago, some historians at the Sorbonne and I uncovered a series of Illuminati letters filled with references to the segno.† â€Å"The sign. The announcement about the path and where it began.† â€Å"Yes. And since then, plenty of Illuminati academics, myself included, have uncovered other references to the segno. It is accepted theory now that the clue exists and that Galileo mass distributed it to the scientific community without the Vatican ever knowing.† â€Å"How?† â€Å"We're not sure, but most likely printed publications. He published many books and newsletters over the years.† â€Å"That the Vatican no doubt saw. Sounds dangerous.† â€Å"True. Nonetheless the segno was distributed.† â€Å"But nobody has ever actually found it?† â€Å"No. Oddly though, wherever allusions to the segno appear – Masonic diaries, ancient scientific journals, Illuminati letters – it is often referred to by a number.† â€Å"666?† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Actually it's 503.† â€Å"Meaning?† â€Å"None of us could ever figure it out. I became fascinated with 503, trying everything to find meaning in the number – numerology, map references, latitudes.† Langdon reached the end of the aisle, turned the corner, and hurried to scan the next row of tabs as he spoke. â€Å"For many years the only clue seemed to be that 503 began with the number five†¦ one of the sacred Illuminati digits.† He paused. â€Å"Something tells me you recently figured it out, and that's why we're here.† â€Å"Correct,† Langdon said, allowing himself a rare moment of pride in his work. â€Å"Are you familiar with a book by Galileo called Dialogo?† â€Å"Of course. Famous among scientists as the ultimate scientific sellout.† Sellout wasn't quite the word Langdon would have used, but he knew what Vittoria meant. In the early 1630s, Galileo had wanted to publish a book endorsing the Copernican heliocentric model of the solar system, but the Vatican would not permit the book's release unless Galileo included equally persuasive evidence for the church's geo centric model – a model Galileo knew to be dead wrong. Galileo had no choice but to acquiesce to the church's demands and publish a book giving equal time to both the accurate and inaccurate models. â€Å"As you probably know,† Langdon said, â€Å"despite Galileo's compromise, Dialogo was still seen as heretical, and the Vatican placed him under house arrest.† â€Å"No good deed goes unpunished.† Langdon smiled. â€Å"So true. And yet Galileo was persistent. While under house arrest, he secretly wrote a lesser-known manuscript that scholars often confuse with Dialogo. That book is called Discorsi.† Vittoria nodded. â€Å"I've heard of it. Discourses on the Tides.† Langdon stopped short, amazed she had heard of the obscure publication about planetary motion and its effect on the tides. â€Å"Hey,† she said, â€Å"you're talking to an Italian marine physicist whose father worshiped Galileo.† Langdon laughed. Discorsi however was not what they were looking for. Langdon explained that Discorsi had not been Galileo's only work while under house arrest. Historians believed he had also written an obscure booklet called Diagramma. â€Å"Diagramma della Verita,† Langdon said. â€Å"Diagram of Truth.† â€Å"Never heard of it.† â€Å"I'm not surprised. Diagramma was Galileo's most secretive work – supposedly some sort of treatise on scientific facts he held to be true but was not allowed to share. Like some of Galileo's previous manuscripts, Diagramma was smuggled out of Rome by a friend and quietly published in Holland. The booklet became wildly popular in the European scientific underground. Then the Vatican caught wind of it and went on a book-burning campaign.† Vittoria now looked intrigued. â€Å"And you think Diagramma contained the clue? The segno. The information about the Path of Illumination.† â€Å"Diagramma is how Galileo got the word out. That I'm sure of.† Langdon entered the third row of vaults and continued surveying the indicator tabs. â€Å"Archivists have been looking for a copy of Diagramma for years. But between the Vatican burnings and the booklet's low permanence rating, the booklet has disappeared off the face of the earth.† â€Å"Permanence rating?† â€Å"Durability. Archivists rate documents one through ten for their structural integrity. Diagramma was printed on sedge papyrus. It's like tissue paper. Life span of no more than a century.† â€Å"Why not something stronger?† â€Å"Galileo's behest. To protect his followers. This way any scientists caught with a copy could simply drop it in water and the booklet would dissolve. It was great for destruction of evidence, but terrible for archivists. It is believed that only one copy of Diagramma survived beyond the eighteenth century.† â€Å"One?† Vittoria looked momentarily starstruck as she glanced around the room. â€Å"And it's here?† â€Å"Confiscated from the Netherlands by the Vatican shortly after Galileo's death. I've been petitioning to see it for years now. Ever since I realized what was in it.† As if reading Langdon's mind, Vittoria moved across the aisle and began scanning the adjacent bay of vaults, doubling their pace. â€Å"Thanks,† he said. â€Å"Look for reference tabs that have anything to do with Galileo, science, scientists. You'll know it when you see it.† â€Å"Okay, but you still haven't told me how you figured out Diagramma contained the clue. It had something to do with the number you kept seeing in Illuminati letters? 503?† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Yes. It took some time, but I finally figured out that 503 is a simple code. It clearly points to Diagramma.† For an instant Langdon relived his moment of unexpected revelation: August 16. Two years ago. He was standing lakeside at the wedding of the son of a colleague. Bagpipes droned on the water as the wedding party made their unique entrance†¦ across the lake on a barge. The craft was festooned with flowers and wreaths. It carried a Roman numeral painted proudly on the hull – DCII. Puzzled by the marking Langdon asked the father of the bride, â€Å"What's with 602?† â€Å"602?† Langdon pointed to the barge. â€Å"DCII is the Roman numeral for 602.† The man laughed. â€Å"That's not a Roman numeral. That's the name of the barge.† â€Å"The DCII?† The man nodded. â€Å"The Dick and Connie II.† Langdon felt sheepish. Dick and Connie were the wedding couple. The barge obviously had been named in their honor. â€Å"What happened to the DCI?† The man groaned. â€Å"It sank yesterday during the rehearsal luncheon.† Langdon laughed. â€Å"Sorry to hear that.† He looked back out at the barge. The DCII, he thought. Like a miniature QEII. A second later, it had hit him. Now Langdon turned to Vittoria. â€Å"503,† he said, â€Å"as I mentioned, is a code. It's an Illuminati trick for concealing what was actually intended as a Roman numeral. The number 503 in Roman numerals is – â€Å" â€Å"DIII.† Langdon glanced up. â€Å"That was fast. Please don't tell me you're an Illuminata.† She laughed. â€Å"I use Roman numerals to codify pelagic strata.† Of course, Langdon thought. Don't we all. Vittoria looked over. â€Å"So what is the meaning of DIII?† â€Å"DI and DII and DIII are very old abbreviations. They were used by ancient scientists to distinguish between the three Galilean documents most commonly confused. Vittoria drew a quick breath. â€Å"Dialogo†¦ Discorsi†¦ Diagramma.† â€Å"D-one. D-two. D-three. All scientific. All controversial. 503 is DIII. Diagramma. The third of his books.† Vittoria looked troubled. â€Å"But one thing still doesn't make sense. If this segno, this clue, this advertisement about the Path of Illumination was really in Galileo's Diagramma, why didn't the Vatican see it when they repossessed all the copies?† â€Å"They may have seen it and not noticed. Remember the Illuminati markers? Hiding things in plain view? Dissimulation? The segno apparently was hidden the same way – in plain view. Invisible to those who were not looking for it. And also invisible to those who didn't understand it.† â€Å"Meaning?† â€Å"Meaning Galileo hid it well. According to historic record, the segno was revealed in a mode the Illuminati called lingua pura.† â€Å"The pure language?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Mathematics?† â€Å"That's my guess. Seems pretty obvious. Galileo was a scientist after all, and he was writing for scientists. Math would be a logical language in which to lay out the clue. The booklet is called Diagramma, so mathematical diagrams may also be part of the code.† Vittoria sounded only slightly more hopeful. â€Å"I suppose Galileo could have created some sort of mathematical code that went unnoticed by the clergy.† â€Å"You don't sound sold,† Langdon said, moving down the row. â€Å"I'm not. Mainly because you aren't. If you were so sure about DIII, why didn't you publish? Then someone who did have access to the Vatican Archives could have come in here and checked out Diagramma a long time ago.† â€Å"I didn't want to publish,† Langdon said. â€Å"I had worked hard to find the information and – † He stopped himself, embarrassed. â€Å"You wanted the glory.† Langdon felt himself flush. â€Å"In a manner of speaking. It's just that – â€Å" â€Å"Don't look so embarrassed. You're talking to a scientist. Publish or perish. At CERN we call it ‘Substantiate or suffocate.' â€Å" â€Å"It wasn't only wanting to be the first. I was also concerned that if the wrong people found out about the information in Diagramma, it might disappear.† â€Å"The wrong people being the Vatican?† â€Å"Not that they are wrong, per se, but the church has always downplayed the Illuminati threat. In the early 1900s the Vatican went so far as to say the Illuminati were a figment of overactive imaginations. The clergy felt, and perhaps rightly so, that the last thing Christians needed to know was that there was a very powerful anti-Christian movement infiltrating their banks, politics, and universities.† Present tense, Robert, he reminded himself. There IS a powerful anti-Christian force infiltrating their banks, politics, and universities. â€Å"So you think the Vatican would have buried any evidence corroborating the Illuminati threat?† â€Å"Quite possibly. Any threat, real or imagined, weakens faith in the church's power.† â€Å"One more question.† Vittoria stopped short and looked at him like he was an alien. â€Å"Are you serious?† Langdon stopped. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"I mean is this really your plan to save the day?† Langdon wasn't sure whether he saw amused pity or sheer terror in her eyes. â€Å"You mean finding Diagramma?† â€Å"No, I mean finding Diagramma, locating a four-hundred-year-old segno, deciphering some mathematical code, and following an ancient trail of art that only the most brilliant scientists in history have ever been able to follow†¦ all in the next four hours.† Langdon shrugged. â€Å"I'm open to other suggestions.† 50 Robert Langdon stood outside Archive Vault 9 and read the labels on the stacks. Brahe†¦ Clavius†¦ Copernicus†¦ Kepler†¦ Newton†¦ As he read the names again, he felt a sudden uneasiness. Here are the scientists†¦ but where is Galileo? He turned to Vittoria, who was checking the contents of a nearby vault. â€Å"I found the right theme, but Galileo's missing.† â€Å"No he isn't,† she said, frowning as she motioned to the next vault. â€Å"He's over here. But I hope you brought your reading glasses, because this entire vault is his.† Langdon ran over. Vittoria was right. Every indictor tab in Vault 10 carried the same keyword. Il Proceso Galileano Langdon let out a low whistle, now realizing why Galileo had his own vault. â€Å"The Galileo Affair,† he marveled, peering through the glass at the dark outlines of the stacks. â€Å"The longest and most expensive legal proceeding in Vatican history. Fourteen years and six hundred million lire. It's all here.† â€Å"Have a few legal documents.† â€Å"I guess lawyers haven't evolved much over the centuries.† â€Å"Neither have sharks.† Langdon strode to a large yellow button on the side of the vault. He pressed it, and a bank of overhead lights hummed on inside. The lights were deep red, turning the cube into a glowing crimson cell†¦ a maze of towering shelves. â€Å"My God,† Vittoria said, looking spooked. â€Å"Are we tanning or working?† â€Å"Parchment and vellum fades, so vault lighting is always done with dark lights.† â€Å"You could go mad in here.† Or worse, Langdon thought, moving toward the vault's sole entrance. â€Å"A quick word of warning. Oxygen is an oxidant, so hermetic vaults contain very little of it. It's a partial vacuum inside. Your breathing will feel strained.† â€Å"Hey, if old cardinals can survive it.† True, Langdon thought. May we be as lucky. The vault entrance was a single electronic revolving door. Langdon noted the common arrangement of four access buttons on the door's inner shaft, one accessible from each compartment. When a button was pressed, the motorized door would kick into gear and make the conventional half rotation before grinding to a halt – a standard procedure to preserve the integrity of the inner atmosphere. â€Å"After I'm in,† Langdon said, â€Å"just press the button and follow me through. There's only eight percent humidity inside, so be prepared to feel some dry mouth.† Langdon stepped into the rotating compartment and pressed the button. The door buzzed loudly and began to rotate. As he followed its motion, Langdon prepared his body for the physical shock that always accompanied the first few seconds in a hermetic vault. Entering a sealed archive was like going from sea level to 20,000 feet in an instant. Nausea and light-headedness were not uncommon. Double vision, double over, he reminded himself, quoting the archivist's mantra. Langdon felt his ears pop. There was a hiss of air, and the door spun to a stop. He was in. Langdon's first realization was that the air inside was thinner than he had anticipated. The Vatican, it seemed, took their archives a bit more seriously than most. Langdon fought the gag reflex and relaxed his chest while his pulmonary capillaries dilated. The tightness passed quickly. Enter the Dolphin, he mused, gratified his fifty laps a day were good for something. Breathing more normally now, he looked around the vault. Despite the transparent outer walls, he felt a familiar anxiety. I'm in a box, he thought. A blood red box. The door buzzed behind him, and Langdon turned to watch Vittoria enter. When she arrived inside, her eyes immediately began watering, and she started breathing heavily. â€Å"Give it a minute,† Langdon said. â€Å"If you get light-headed, bend over.† â€Å"I†¦ feel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Vittoria choked, â€Å"like I'm†¦ scuba diving†¦ with the wrong†¦ mixture.† Langdon waited for her to acclimatize. He knew she would be fine. Vittoria Vetra was obviously in terrific shape, nothing like the doddering ancient Radcliffe alumnae Langdon had once squired through Widener Library's hermetic vault. The tour had ended with Langdon giving mouth-to-mouth to an old woman who'd almost aspirated her false teeth. â€Å"Feeling better?† he asked. Vittoria nodded. â€Å"I rode your damn space plane, so I thought I owed you.† This brought a smile. â€Å"Touche.† Langdon reached into the box beside the door and extracted some white cotton gloves. â€Å"Formal affair?† Vittoria asked. â€Å"Finger acid. We can't handle the documents without them. You'll need a pair.† Vittoria donned some gloves. â€Å"How long do we have?† Langdon checked his Mickey Mouse watch. â€Å"It's just past seven.† â€Å"We have to find this thing within the hour.† â€Å"Actually,† Langdon said, â€Å"we don't have that kind of time.† He pointed overhead to a filtered duct. â€Å"Normally the curator would turn on a reoxygenation system when someone is inside the vault. Not today. Twenty minutes, we'll both be sucking wind.† Vittoria blanched noticeably in the reddish glow. Langdon smiled and smoothed his gloves. â€Å"Substantiate or suffocate, Ms. Vetra. Mickey's ticking.†

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Summary of “Little Things” by Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver’s short story entitled â€Å"Little Things† is a representation of internal situation in a house when a husband and a wife could not retrieve the love that once felt before. The author did not state the names of the characters but only used the words â€Å"she† and â€Å"he† to refer the names of the characters as husband and wife. This story is a situation that most families usually get into because of the separation and the child is the most affected in the whole scenario for he or she could not able to determine whether to go with his or her mother or with his or her father. The story begins when the man paced his own things for he decided to leave his family. the woman was happy as according to her that the man will leave but it was felt from her emotions that it is hard for her to accept the situation. After packing all the things in his suitcase, the man went to the living room to get the baby but the woman did not want the man to take the baby so she grabbed the baby into the man’s hand. The baby started to cry but the two did not mend the tears and shout of the baby. They did not let each other to get the baby so they grabbed each other’s hands. Related article: †On Compassion† summary Because the woman is much weaker than the man, the man obtained the baby. The woman could not accept it so she tried again but the decision went on as the story ended. Carver’s story is a detailed short story as it represents the signification of elements and images that exists within the whole narrative. It shows that he is capable of acquiring consequences that emerged in the home where men and women could not recognize their weaknesses and incapability that made them quit from being together. Reference Carver, R. (1988). Little Things. Tess Gallagher From Where I'm Calling From: The Selected Stories Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988.